Plot: What’s it about?
Ever since the dawn of time, people have been predicting the end of the world. I wonder why that is? I suppose there’s something way deep down inside us that makes us wonder when and if the world will come to an end. Or maybe it’s the fact that we know our time in Earth is finite so we prophesize about the end of days. No matter the case, people have come out with definitive dates as to the world’s end and yet here we are, still plugging along. But what it there was some de facto piece of paper or computer program that really would tell us the future of the world we live in? Such is the premise behing “Knowing” in which a man is presented with a piece of paper fifty years old that has the location, date and coordinates of every disaster that has, and will, happens.
Nicolas Cage plays John Koestler, a professor at M.I.T. who’s just lost his wife and he’s raising his son, Caleb (Chandler Canterbury) on his own. John’s a nice guy who does the best he can. He’s got a borderline drinking problem but it’s only after a time capsule is opened and Caleb gets a strange piece of paper that things really start to make sense for him. John manages to take this piece of paper (which contain a seemingly endless string of random numbers) and figures out that it contains the time and location for every major catastrophe. Naturally knowing this information, he can help and try to prevent them but human nature would dictate that people don’t believe in prophecies. The movie takes a turn for the weird when these strange men start showing up and communicate with Caleb and later Abby (Lara Robinson). Add to this that John is estranged from his father, an ordained minister, and you’ve got a lot of things going on. Will John be able to prevent the end of the world and save his son or are they all doomed?
There’s a side to this movie that I really don’t want to go into. I will say that the movie is very spiritual, but having known some very religious people in my day they tend to make everything fit into place. “Knowing ” isn’t an anti-religious movie any more than “Star Wars” is. The concept is fairly interesting and I think that it should have focused on that angle moreso than the end of civilization. Everyone will have a view point and that’s fine. Cage does fine in his role here and according to the filmmakers, he was one of the few mentioned for the part. As for “Knowing”, it was somewhat of a modest success bringing in $80 million at the box office last Spring. It’s an interesting concept and storyline, though the spiritual references might polarize some viewers. It’s a movie , folks ? nothing more.
Video: How does it look?
I’m often hesitant to give out a perfect rating when it comes to a live- action film, but after watching “Knowing” I have to say that this is one of the best transfers I’ve seen on Blu-ray. The 2.40:1 AVC HD transfer is just literally in every way. Colors are strong and bold, black levels and contrast are right on the mark and flesh tones are warm and natural. I couldn’t find one instance in which there was any shimmering, artifacting or anything else wrong with the print. Naturally this is a new to Blu-ray movie so we’d expect it would look good but my expectations were exceeded with this film. Truly a reference-quality disc.
Audio: How does it sound?
As good as the video is the audio holds its own as well. The DTS HD Master Audio track is one of the more robust I’ve heard. There are a few instances (a jet crashing into the ground, forest fires and a couple of explosions come to mind) that really make this track outstanding. The LFE are so active in a few scenes that the floor actually shook. Now that’s power, ladies and gentlemen. Dialogue is strong as we might expect and the overall soundtrack and score are simply amazing. On a technical level, “Knowing” delivers the goods.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Unfortunately like their other new to Blu-ray title, “Push”, this doesn’t contain a plethora of supplements. We get a rather engaging commentary track from producer/director Alex Proyas (who also helmed one of my favorites, “Dark City”) as he tells about the cast, the special effects and the supposed religious references. There’s a 12 minute “Making Of…” featurette as well as a twenty minute discussion with psychologists and anthropologists about the culture and those who prophesize the end of the world. The disc is also BD Live enabled, but I was unable to connect.
